Finding Victorinox in Bangkok…

Don’t think that I booked a trip to Thailand just to visit the Victorinox shops, but it was a nice extra to a trip we already planned about a year ago. My wife agreed on one thing…  one, max. two days, and the other ten days filled with excursions, sun, sea and shopping… I loved the fact that I might be able to find some discontinued nib models… You never know… Well, let’s just say it was a surprise!!! I found about 15 addresses of Victorinox resellers in Bangkok alone, so I was confident to find at least one. The most important one was/is Hummel co ltd. They are the main Victorinox knives supplier in Bangkok, although it seemed. I printed all the addresses at home and took it with me to show them at one of the many cab-drivers. When I showed it at the driver, he hesitated and asked a whopping 500 Baht for a single ride. That’s three times the normal rate. After some arguing I was able to reduce it to 350 Baht. Still a lot, but every other collector would’ve followed me. ;) After a one hour drive we arrived at a small village in the middle of nowhere and we were almost 100 % sure that he made a mistake, but when he drove trough the abandoned street, we noticed a Victorinox sticker on one of the houses. The address was correct, but it seemed that the store was relocated.. There were some knives in an old display cabinet, but it looked like the shop was abandoned after a fire or something and they left everything behind. I was so much disappointed and the wife…. Well… She laughed… After I went back to the hotel, I took my laptop and double checked that I had the most recent address. I had the right address, but something went wrong… I was so confused. I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t change the address. The second biggest reseller was the socalled Pronique shop in the Rainhill building. After some research I was able to find the store… Victory!!! Nope, some classics for about 30 Euros and the more common models for 150% of the retail price. The female seller, who didn’t speak two words of English didn’t knew the prices, and had to call her boss to ask it for every single item.I’m sure, if I presented myself as Mister Carl Elsener, she would’ve believed me! Well, at least I was able to find Victorinox, but without a “score”… Damn, Thailand is a gorgeous country, full of culture, religion and some breathtaking sceneries,but the Swiss inventiveness was far from represented!!!